HAMILTON — A doubleheader of basketball for Hamilton High ended in a pair of disappointing losses Tuesday night to Redding Christian, but both Brave squads have reason for optimism.

The boys team won the Northern Section Division V championship last season, but the Braves graduated their starting lineup and their top reserves, and that showed in a 40-27 loss to the visiting Lions.

“We have to play hard for 32 minutes,” Hamilton coach Brian Erickson said. “We just didn’t play hard. We have to play with a sense of urgency or we won’t win another game.”

Now Hamilton, whose starting lineup includes two sophomores and a freshman, showed some spunk even in the closing minutes of a game that had already been decided.

“They’re learning on the fly,” Erickson said of the youngsters. “They’re flying around. Now, we need our juniors and seniors to step up.”

Andrew Shippelhoute, the freshman who starts for the Braves, led them with 13 points, half of the team’s total. Shippelhoute, a 5-foot-9 forward, is just one reason of hope for Hamilton. The Braves (1-6) can’t get any younger, and the experience they gain in the early part of their schedule will only help them improve.

“There’s plenty of season left,” Erickson added.

The Hamilton girls didn’t have one star on the night. They actually had two as Emily Stokes and Aubrey Bekendam combined for 38 points, but Hamilton still fell 55-50 in overtime to Redding Christian.

The loss was especially stinging for the Braves because their last game was a 51-42 victory over these same Lions on Saturday in the Central Valley tournament in Shasta Lake City.

And Hamilton won that game without Stokes, who scored a game-high 21 points Tuesday. The senior, who also is a standout softball pitcher, visited the University of Kansas in Lawrence this past weekend.

In the first game against Redding Christian, Bekendam scored 25 points as the Braves won.

On Tuesday, Bekendam again tormented the Lions for 17 points. However, the junior, starting on the varsity since she was a freshman, picked up two fouls 46 seconds apart in overtime, fouling out with 1:10 left. Hamilton, at that point, trailed 54-50.

To make it worse, Bekendam had just stolen the ball on Redding Christian’s end of the court and was driving in for what could have been a crucial basket or trip to the free-throw line. Instead, she was called for a charge and was sent to the bench.

“I didn’t play smart,” Bekendam said. “I need to learn to play smarter.”

With Bekendam on the bench, the Braves tried to get the ball in to Stokes near the basket, but the Lions denied any entry passes.

Hamilton (3-3) didn’t score a point after Bekendam exited.

“Aubrey’s a huge part of our offense,” Stokes said.

The duo drew a lot of contact themselves, combining for 20 trips to the line and making 15 of them. The rest of the Braves were 0 of 4 from the line.

“We got nothing else from anyone,” Hamilton girls coach Mark Priano said. “I’m just disappointed. We didn’t play the way we need to. Our defensive effort wasn’t there. We didn’t play well. We took possessions off.”

The Braves reached the section final last year before losing to Durham 44-32, but this season’s squad got a belated start with the school’s volleyball program reaching the Northern California final.

“Only Aubrey started last year, so we have a whole new team out there,” Priano said, “but we still have time. We’ll play better.”

The Hamilton boys begin their four-team round-robin tourney with two games Friday.

The girls play at 8 p.m. Thursday to open their own four-team tourney as well, starting with a game against Wheatland.